Facebook allows users to weed out fake news

Facebook has unveiled a new feature, which allows users to flag news articles deemed “purposefully fake or deceitful news.” The move is said to be aimed at restricting the number of fake stories, hoaxes and scams appearing on the social network.

The new algorithm developed by the internet giant filters out the
flagged story’s link from the people’s feeds, based on the number
of users who reported the story to be fake.

“A post with a link to an article that many people have
reported as a hoax or chose to delete will get reduced
distribution in the News Feed,” Facebook said.

The goal is to clean up News Feeds and limit fake information on
the 1.35-billion member network. Flagged stories will also come
with a warning: “Many people have reported that this story
contains false information.”

“Today’s update to News Feed reduces the distribution of
posts that people have reported as hoaxes and adds an annotation
to posts that have received many of these types of reports to
warn others on Facebook,” software engineer Erich Owens
said.

It is not believed that the new feature will affect satirical
stories. “We’ve found from testing that people tend not to
report satirical content intended to be humorous, or content that
is clearly labeled as satire. This type of content should not be
affected by this update,” Owens added.

Facebook is increasingly becoming a tool used for news updates.
Pew Research Center said in its 2013 survey that 30 percent of
adults in the US rely on Facebook for their news.

FB will make it harder for fake news to spread, but I hope they
can stop people from marking real news they dislike? http://t.co/D8s5a1saxp

At the same time, Facebook had a number of fake stories eating
away at its popularity and spreading globally across users’ news
feeds, such as dinosaur sightings, Obama funding a Muslim museum,
and research proving Santa Claus’ existence.

Will be interesting to see if the new Facebook "Fake News"
option is gamed by people trying to bury legit news stories
that they don't like.

Many on social media have welcomed Facebook’s efforts. Some even
hinted that Facebook users could limit the number of news
blunders, such as the latest Fox News incorrect report of Paris
“no-go zones” governed by Sharia law, which non-Muslims
are forbidden to enter and police avoid going to.

Facebook is cracking down on fake news. Next up: carefully
curated photos that make your friends lives look perfect
https://t.co/Ii1IdKpPK5